In adults with type 2 diabetes, sleep quality scales can serve as useful tools for predicting obstructive sleep apnea, with similar predictive values observed across various questionnaires, according to findings published in the Journal of Diabetes.

“The risk of developing diabetes associated with sleep disturbances has been found to be comparable to that of other traditional risk factors as obesity, family history and physical inactivity. It has been suggested that sleep disturbances should be considered in the clinical guidelines for type 2 diabetes screening,” Athanasia Pataka, MD, of the respiratory failure unit at G Papanikolaou Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece, and colleagues wrote in the study background. “Thus, a systematic screening for [obstructive sleep apnea] in patients with [type 2 diabetes] with easy-to-use and accurate screening tools is warranted.”

In a retrospective study, researchers analyzed data from 350 patients with type 2 diabetes and 350 controls without type 2 diabetes matched for age, sex, BMI and apnea-hypopnea index, all seen at the sleep clinic of the respiratory failure unit between 2009 and 2016.